Why Australia should be wary of the Proud Boys and their violent, alt-right views

Author

Disclosure statement

Kaz Ross does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

None of these speakers has yet to attract an organised movement of followers in Australia. But these tours are certainly having an impact on society, as Hanson’s Senate motion illustrates.

An ABC investigation revealed that the NSW Young Nationals were infiltrated by members with links to the neo-Nazi fight club that provided security for the Southern/Molyneaux and Farage tours. And Yiannopoulos was even given a platform to speak at Parliament House, the invited guest of Senator David Leyonhjelm.

Yiannopoulos alongside Leyonhjelm at Parliament House last year. His appearance was vehemently opposed by the Greens.Lukas Coch/AAP

With the imminent visit of Canadian Gavin McInnes, the leader of the Proud Boys group, Australia could witness an acceleration of organised alt-right activity.

‘The Leader of the Patriarchy’

McInnes and the global Proud Boys fraternity he founded in 2016 is engaged in a culture war against political correctness, Islam, feminism and all that is supposedly destroying Western civilisation.

A recent promotional video of his upcoming tour of five Australian cities sets the tone for his brand of hate-filled rhetoric:

I’d like to identify the elephant in the room. Which is you, you are a fat woman.“

Over the next minute, McInnes is exulted as "the leader of the patriarchy, the ultimate male, the legendary Western warrior and a proud Western chauvinist”. He talks about punching people in the face while footage shows him doing exactly that. As Mcinnes states very clearly:

McInnes claims the Proud Boys only fight in self-defence, yet he frequently states the mantra:

You’re not a man until you’ve been beaten up. And you’ve beaten up someone else.

Indeed, to become a fully-fledged member of the Proud Boys, a man must take a beating and also engage in violence in “service to the cause”. The aim is to achieve what McInnes calls the “fourth degree”. The first degree is a declaration of a belief in Western chauvinism, the second is to take a friendly beating while reciting breakfast cereal names, the third is a Proud Boys tattoo and the final degree is to engage in battle.

This commitment to violence is deeply concerning. Already, the small Australian Proud Boy chapters have started to make their presence felt at conservative rallies despite claiming to be apolitical. And McInnes’ upcoming visit could give members the opportunity to reach the “fourth degree” through the type of violence frequently seen in the US.

Shadow Immigration Minister Shayne Neumann has called for McInnes’ visa to be denied on grounds he poses a “significant risk” to Australia.

And a petition against Mcinnes’ visit has thus far attracted 33,000 signatures.

Proud Western chauvinists

Despite the group’s history of violence, its Western chauvinism should be of even more concern to Australians.

When members are admitted to the Proud Boys, they are required to make a public declaration:

I am a proud Western chauvinist and I refuse to apologise for making the modern world.

What exactly does this mean? McInnes has made some of his views clear in the past, stating:

I think the west is the best, But I don’t think other cultures are different, I think they are worse

Clarifying his views after being criticised as a white supremacist, McInnes said the Proud Boys are not racist or homophobic and that members of any ethnicity or sexual orientation can join.

But the group clearly has a belief in the superiority of Western civilisation. Potential immigrants are ranked according to their assumed commitment to Western civilisation. McInnes puts Western Christians at the top, and ranks Indians higher than Chinese. Muslims are deemed undesirable due to their supposed inability to integrate and their “animosity to the West”.

Why Australia? And why now?

Until recently, Australia has been an untapped market for the far right. Figures like McInnes are now seen as celebrities. They tour packed-out auditoriums like rock stars.

Case in point: tickets were sold out for an Australian tour featuring Yiannopoulos and far-right commentator Ann Coulter in November, even for a private boat cruise costing A$1,000 a head. Although the tour has since been cancelled, all tickets will now be honoured at The Deplorables Tour events.

Each tour pushes the public debate in Australia further to the right, with more scope for conflict. And as the Australian social media sphere becomes increasingly integrated with right-wing commentators from overseas, this rhetoric is also having an effect. Many in Australia’s right-wing movements are clearly moving further to the right.

For the eager Australian Proud Boys, McInnes’ visit is seen as a chance to earn their “fourth degree” through battle. For the rest of us, it’s an opportunity to debunk spurious racism dressed up as a defence of Western civilisation.

Megyn Kelly appears on the set of her show, ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ at NBC Studios in New York on September 21, 2017. Kelly questioned why dressing up in blackface is wrong. Kelly now says she understands that she needs to be more sensitive.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Invision - Charles Sykes